Blackjack is a popular casino game. In its traditional form, the game is played at a table using physical playing cards.
In recent years, the game has been implemented at gaming machines in video form. However, video Blackjack has not been very popular. One reason is that the game generally has a very low payback percentage as compared, for example, to games such as video poker and slots. For example, video Blackjack games might pay only 1:1 for a winning Blackjack hand (as compared to 3:2 or 6:5 in traditional table play) and might only have a game payback percentage of 84%. This contrasts with video poker and slot games which commonly have payback percentages of 94-99%. Thus, while players may generally enjoy playing video Blackjack, the low rate of return makes the game much less attractive to players than other games.
One way to increase the payback percentage for video Blackjack is to increase the payout for winning Blackjack hands, such as from 1:1 to 3:2 or even 2:1. However, this adjustment still does not add much excitement to the game.
A simple and effect way for increasing the excitement associated with Blackjack, thus increasing the desire of the player to play the game, is desired.